Hanyou of Time
by FuuryHaavoc
Summary: After defeating Nue Rikuo visits Toono to celebrate and upon his return he finds the remains of his decimated clan. The Shikoku Hachijūhakki Yakō invaded while he was away and killed his family. In grief for his failure, Rikuo leaves Japan to find a new purpose and after a time discovers a old Onmyoji artifact that sends him back in time to when his father still lead the Nura Gumi.


_**Summary:**__ After defeating Nue, Rikuo goes on a two week training trip to Toono to celebrate, but when he returns the entire Nura Gumi, aside from his grandfather, is slaughtered. Tamazuki and his __Shikoku Hachijūhakki Yakō had invaded while he was away and while the main house was off guard, giving Tamazuki the opportunity to completely wipe out the central headquarters for the Nura Gumi, also killing off every one of Rikuo's friends and family. In his grief for failing his loved ones as the Sandaime, Rikuo leaves Japan to wander the world, and seek out a new purpose all the while remaining in a daze of depression and self-hate. After over eight hundred years of this Rikuo comes across an ancient Onmyoji artifact that sends him back in time to when his father ruled the Nura Gumi. Rikuo decides to use this chance to change the future and get to know the father that he never had._

Okay I know that Rikuo did have a father but Rihan died when Rikuo was like three or four so I do think that that warrants not having a father, Rikuo can hardly remember the man! That should be proof enough that he didn't really have Rihan around long enough to know him as a dad!

**Disclaimer: This goes for the rest of my chapters as well… I do not own it! …Unfortunately.**

_Warning: There may be a bit of Rikuo x Yura in this chapter depending on how you look at it, but it is totally friend based and platonic, they are not really a pairing unless it is one-sided on Yura's side, because Rikuo only likes her as a good friend and person he likes to tease._

**Pairings****: ****I am not sure… I think I will leave it up to vote! Rihan is with Yamabuki in this but I can easily add more people to the love.**** ;) (Nurarihyon is still young looking in this because not enough time has passed since his heart was taken for him to be the gourd-head thing, so right now he looks like his young self but just a tad aged.)**

Rihan x Rikuo

Nurarihyon x Rikuo

Rihan x Rikuo x Yamabuki

Rihan x Rikuo x Nurarihyon

Other

_**~0o0~**_

Rikuo Nura strolled lazily down the road on his way back to the Nura Gumi main house. For the past two weeks he has been training his ass off in Toono, and is now in his night form as the sun set about an hour ago.

_Damn that Itaku, freaking Spartan weasel yokai! _He grumbled in his head, as he remembered how much his teacher enjoyed beating the shit out of him, even if it took over half of Toono to do it now.

He isn't the weak little kid that he had been a couple years ago, no now he is much stronger and he could probably hold up against Nurarihyon himself for a while as he is now. And that is not just a prideful ego talking; those are the words of the supreme commander himself. But then again jiji lost a lot of power as he aged; making him nowhere near the level he was at when he was in his prime.

A little depressing to know that his 400+ year old grandpa was much stronger than he is now only a couple centuries ago, but then again Rikuo is still very young for a yokai, only fifteen. Rikuo has simply been forced to fight a lot more than younglings like him usually do.

First was the mock betrayal of the Gyūki clan, which was quickly resolved when Rikuo defeated their clan head Gyūki. Though Rikuo still feels sore about it, knowing that it wasn't a real win since the old man was holding back and not using his _fear_, which Rikuo did not know how to use at the time.

Then after a few smaller incidents involving his school friends, Tamazuki came with his _Shikoku Hachijūhakki Yakō (88 demons of Shikoku)_, in an attempt to destroy the Nura Gumi and go on to take over all of Japans yokai clans and groups, until he rules over all of the ayakashiof japan.

Of course after dealing with the local deities and ensuring the protection of his human friends he and his_ Hyakki_ had gone to finally dispose of Tamazuki and chase him out of their territory. It was not easy but in the end it helped Rikuo to learn a way to stay in his night form during the day, because after all, the moon is always in the sky even if it cannot be seen.

For a short while after that Rikuo was simply gathering more people for his _Hyakki_ and the Nura Gumi was temporarily at peace, but it wasn't long before that peace was disrupted by an ancient enemy of the Nura Gumi by the name of Hagoromo Gitsune.

She went to great lengths in an attempt to finally resurrect her son Abe no Seimei as _Nue_. And Rikuo was sent to Toono by his grandfather in order to learn about his _fear_; there he met Itaku, Awashima, and the other Toono yokai who trained him in preparation for the war with the Kyoto ayakashi.

In the end they were able to defeat Hagoromo Gitsune with the help of Kyoto's resident group of _onmyoji_, the Keikain Clan. But unfortunately they were not in time to stop the birth of the _Nue_, and after a short battle ending in Rikuo's defeat, Nue opened a gateway to hell so that he may fully get used to his new body before cleansing the world of all humans and yokai.

That left Rikuo with about a year to train in order to be strong enough to take on Nue and defeat him upon his return to the world of the living, and the majority of that time was spent in Toono, before he returned just in time to grapple with the _Hyaku__Monogatari__Gumi (One-hundred Tales Clan)_, an enemy dating back to his father's rule.

After that business was sorted out, Rikuo was then forced to deal with Seimei's psychotic _onmyoji_ decedents, once again with the help of the Keikain, before finally fighting again with the returned Nue and his band of merry men from hell.

The fight was by no means easy, it was long and hard and he lost many good yokai that day but in the end the alliance of Japan's yokai -plus onmyoji- that Rikuo himself had orchestrated, won out over the spawn of hell. Nue had been cursing Rikuo with his dying breath much like his mother, Hagoromo Gitsune, had at his own grandfather four hundred years ago.

Even up to this day Rikuo can remember the last words of one of his greatest adversaries, Nue himself.

"_Damn you! I curse you! _

_I curse you to suffer eternal pain for what you have done to me!_

_Let you wallow in the pits of despair forever!_

_I curse you Nura Rikuo!"_

That final battle with Nue happened almost a year ago now, and for most of that time Japan's yokai factions have been rebuilding their destroyed homes and decimated clans, and the Nura Gumi has been no different.

They have just completed the rebuilding and expansions that Rikuo had taken the opportunity to add to their main house now that his _Hyakki_ seems to be growing bigger and bigger every day, and now he just wants to return home to be with his family and see the rebuilt house.

As Rikuo rounded the corner that would lead him directly to the front gate of his home he stiffened, dread settling in his stomach as his sharp nose caught the scent of freshly spilt blood coming from the direction of the Nura house. A lot of blood.

Alarmed, Rikuo quickly ran to the front gate only to be greeted with a sight that set his blood to a boil as well as ripped his whole world apart. Bodies littered the ground, bloody dead bodies. The bodies of his friends and family, his _Hyakki. _The entire main house of his clan had been slaughtered and it appeared very recent. Rikuo shot forward running through the house looking for any sign of life and survivors as panic gripped his heart icily, but all he could find was more death and destruction.

He found Kubinashi with a dagger sticking out of his head; his body tied up and cut into by his own wire. Kejoro had her body hacked up into small pieces with all of her hair shaved from her head.

Tsurara looks like she was caught on fire and burned to death. Aotabo was chained up and beat mercilessly, if the many chains and bad injuries on him are any indication.

Kurotabō has hundreds of small blades sticking out of his body, almost looking like a human pin cushion. Kappa has several lacerations crisscrossing all over his body, indicating that he had likely died from blood loss.

Jami appears as though he has committed traditional Seppuku from the blade protruding from his abdomen. Karasu Tengu has each and every one of his feathers ripped from his body and his wings cut off, his three children seem to have shared a similar fate.

The sight of every one of his friends and subordinates, his family lying dead in some of the most excruciating ways possible shattered Rikuo, he felt as though his world was crumbling into dust, if only he could find a survivor, his mother, his grandfather.

But his hopes of finding his blood family still alive were dashed when he came across the dead body of his mother, looking like she was choked to death. At the horrendous sight he collapsed to his knees and cried like a child. Something he hasn't done since Yamabuki Otome died before his eyes.

Rikuo felt that his entire world was ripped apart with the deaths of his family. The ones he swore to protect, that he trained hard to become a worthy Sandaime for. And now… he isn't even worth the title, what kind of leader lets their subordinates, their _Hyakki_, their friends die?

And what's worse is that his mother, his wonderful strong willed mother, innocent of anything bad, had been dragged into this mess and killed just like the rest. Rikuo felt his mind being consumed by guilt and despair as his human half wept from within their shared mindscape, curled into a ball against the sakura tree and screaming out in horrified grief at the loss of his family.

All his yokai self could do was grip tightly to his mother's kimono and cry silently, tears dripping down his face even as he made no sound, his eyes dulling and glazing over, his family was his life, what is he supposed to do without them?

After what felt like days of despair and sadness it is normal to feel anger, hatred at the perpetrator, to feel the need for revenge. But Rikuo didn't feel such a need, it was useless, they were dead, and ripping apart their killers would do nothing to bring them back. Rikuo is hollow and dead in both mind and soul, he is broken.

Finally after several hours of wallowing in his grief Rikuo picked himself up and moved once again through the house, looking for the body of his grandfather, knowing that if even his mother was gone his grandfather certainly would be as well. He slowly walked to his grandfather's room, moving almost robotically, stiff and without purpose.

True to his expectations he found the almost peacefully dead body of his grandfather. His cause of death unknown, but it appears to have been through poisoning, and he felt the last of his sanity collapse at the sight of his powerful grandfather dead, the Shodaime and founder of the Nura Gumi defeated and killed by something so pathetic and dishonorable.

And on the wall above the form of his grandpa was the crudely painted crest of the _Shikoku Hachijūhakki Yakō (88 demons of Shikoku)_. He felt nothing even as he gazed at the almost taunting symbol; no rage or wish to go hunting Tamazuki down, no need to make him pay for his deeds, nothing.

Rikuo wanted nothing more than to be with his family again, to forget the horrendous scene before him and go back to how things were before any of this happened. Rikuo fell to his knees and reached for Nenekirimaru, slowly unsheathing the exorcist blade, his hair shadowing his eyes as he prepared himself for what he was about to do.

_Nenekirimaru doesn't harm humans and with me being more human than demon it might not have the full affect, but my yokai half should be strong enough for it to kill me._ He thinks as he positions the sword so that the tip of the blade rests against his upper abdomen, his hands gripped loosely to the handle. His mind drifts to when he stopped Gyūki from committing the very action he is about to, and chuckles hollowly at the memory.

Rikuo closes his eyes and looks to his human half to see if there is any objection for this course of action, but all his day form does is nod with dead eyes and a nonexistent will, giving his silent consent for seppuku.

The night form calmly nods as well before tightening his grip on the handle of his sword and pulling it towards his own body. Just as the sharp tip of the blade pierces his skin a loud banging noise startles Rikuo and draws his attention to the doorway, the blade stopping only a centimeter into his flesh.

There, with her hands clutching the frame of the door is none other than Keikain Yura, a horrified look on her face as she takes in the scene before her. Before Rikuo can even say anything Yura makes a short cry and lunges forward, ripping the blade from the hanyou's grip and tossing it to the ground a few feet away.

The dual haired yokai slowly raises his gaze to stare at the onmyoji, taking in her usual short stature and heavy panting, her eyes looking haunted and angered at the same time. "Nura-kun! W-what did you think you were doing?!"

Rikuo blinks slowly before shifting his gaze to the discarded katana and then back to the shaking girl, looking like she was about to explode with all the emotions running through her eyes.

"Seppuku. More honorable than slitting the throat… and it would make Nenekirimaru stronger for its next wielder." He explains in a quiet, detached voice, looking much like a doll with his glazed over lifeless eyes, ringed red in the corners from his recent crying, and hopeless expression.

"Actually… it's good that you're here… you'll be able to take Nenekirimaru back to the Keikain." He says as his eyes shift back to the sword for a second.

This only serves to make Yura even angrier as she moves quickly and slaps the yokai across the face, making his head snap to the side. Yura glares at him with tears in the corners of her own eyes "What are you thinking Nura-kun?! Trying to kill yourself?! Why would you do something so…so stupid?!"

Rikuo's expression doesn't change from the slap or her words, he simply continues to stare in the direction his head is now facing and spoke in a bitterly amused tone of voice "You should have seen on the way in here my reasons for doing this."

The onmyoji flinched in remembrance of the slaughter she had seen when she came here to visit Rikuo, she had lost her dinner at the sheer amount of heartless bloodshed she bore witness to the aftermath of.

"R-regardless, you shouldn't kill yourself! What about your friends from school? What about those Toono yokai? W-what about m-me?" her voice lost volume as she listed Rikuo's remaining precious people blushing lightly as she stuttered through the last one.

A wry smile surfaced on Rikuo's face before he slowly stood and approached her only stopping when he was within arm's reach.

"Yura, I became Sandaime to protect this lot," he says gesturing to the rest of the house where the dead lie "they were my family, my only family. I have failed, I don't deserve the title of supreme commander after this, I don't even deserve to live if I allow my subordinates to die so easily."

He shook his head from side to side with his eyes closed as if to ward off bad thoughts before opening his eyes again and staring at the onmyoji girl with a look of self-loathing. "It's the same concept of a captain going down with his ship even if the crew is safe… except in this scenario my crew is already dead."

This did not deter Yura, though she seemed to flinch a bit at his words "That isn't your fault Nura-kun! You couldn't have known that this was going to happen! And even if you were away, your subordinates should have been able to protect themselves! It isn't the end of the world!"

This seemed to hit something in Rikuo because he twitched before his expression darkened and he hissed mockingly "Ah, I forgot for a second that you're _onmyoji_ and kill yokai for a living, so of course it wouldn't seem like the end of the world to _you_."

"W-what are you saying Nura-kun?" she asked nervously when she felt his_ yokai _begin to gather around him.

"However, they weremy_ family_, _everything_ to me; it would be like the Keikain clan being obliterated before your eyes." He continued with a dark glare "You onmyoji seem to think that yokai feel no emotions except pleasure at causing trouble for humans, so you kill us like we were nothing more than parasites." Rikuo spat, eyes closed in anger before they snapped open and he continued tightly "But what you don't understand is that yokai have feelings just as much as any human, we simply show it a bit differently."

Rikuo turned his gaze to the ground and slowly began to rein his _yokai_ back in, still speaking in a cold tone "All of you exorcists kill yokai in the hopes of cleansing the world of them, but if you get rid of all of the black, in a world of black and white you're left with unbalance. You're all so much like Nue in that regard."

Finally the dual haired yokai seemed to calm down as he slumped forward in posture, he raised his eyes to look at Yura and found her wide eyed with one of her shinigami summoning papers in hand out of reflex from detecting the _fear _Rikuo had been leaking.

Seeing the tense stance that his friend was displaying Rikuo sighed before moving around her and retrieving Nenekirimaru from where it had been so brashly thrown, he carefully inspected the blade for any nicks or scratches from such rough treatment and wasn't surprised to find none, it was a high craft yokai sword after all.

Rikuo carefully moved back to stand before Yura who had shifted to face him in his short recovery of the Katana.

"N-Nura-kun, I-I'm sorry that I said those things but-" She didn't even finish the sentence before Rikuo grabbed one of her hands and gently placed the handle of Nenekirimaru into her grip, pressing until her fingers closed around it.

"I apologize for snapping at you, but I have a favor to ask, you should be able to do it with no problem, you are an onmyoji after all."

The raven haired girl reared back in surprise at the apology. As far as she was concerned Rikuo's arrogant yokai-self had never lowered himself to ever apologize for any of his actions, probably because he never did anything he would regret or feel sorry for.

And for him to apologize in such a situation put her nerves even more on edge than they already were, not only that but he kept bringing up her onmyoji status, when before he would seem to subtly skirt around it either for her comfort or his own. An onmyoji being friends with a yokai is practically unheard of; after all they were destined to always be enemies.

With her friend acting weird and being obviously suicidal Yura had no idea what to do, she wanted to help him, but he seemed to be so far out of her reach, because she couldn't understand his loss. Sure she had lost many of her family members in the recently off-the-charts yokai activity, but most of them weren't close to her. It's not like she lost Ryuuji, or Mamiru, those whom she sees as her closest family, her brothers.

Yura was brought out of her thoughts when Rikuo lifted the blade so that its sharp edge rested against his throat with Yura still gripping the handle "Yura, I want you to kill me." His voice was quiet but serious, his eyes still dull and movements uncaring.

Yura's eyes widen, and her face twists into a horrified expression "W-what?! I'm not going to kill you!"

"And why not, I'm just a yokai after all, onmyoji are supposed to exterminate ayakashi. I do believe I fall under the category of yokai at the moment. So what are you waiting for?" Rikuo inquired monotonously.

Yura seemed to be wavering a bit because she was stiff as a board with her arms trembling fiercely, the yokai could tell she only need one more push of common sense, and logic to convince her of his words, so he continued.

"Not only will you be honored for killing the grandson of the great and elusive Nurarihyon, but Nenekirimaru's power will be doubled at least. Besides, I have nothing more to live for, if I'm going to die I would rather it be by your hand than my own." All of this is said in a flat indifferent tone as if he were speaking casually about the weather.

Yura bites her lip before lowering her face so that black bangs shadow her eyes making her expression unreadable. After a few long seconds the girls grip on the sword tightens and she lunges forward with the katana.

…

…

…

…

Rikuo closes his eyes, expecting to feel the searing pain of being stabbed only to grunt loudly and fall on his behind when instead a sharp pain explodes on his forehead. Rikuo put a palm to the growing bump on his head and winced before turning his eyes up to glare at Yura.

"What the hell was that? Hitting someone with the pommel of a sword is-" however he was cut off before he could say any more with a second hit with the end of Nenekirimaru's handle. "BAKA!" she screamed before continuing in a high pitched cracking voice.

"Snap out of it Nura-kun! Can't you see how selfish your being?! What would your family say if they saw you now? Saw what you were about to do to yourself? They would surely be disappointed and saddened that you would make such a stupid and rash decision! They would blame themselves for this and never forgive you or themselves!"

Rikuo's eyes widened at her words as tears cascaded down her face. He had never seen Yura cry like this; sure he had seen angry tears, but never the conflicted tears he was now bearing witness to. Like she was sad, angry, and confused, unsure of what to do or say.

The logic made sense to him and he knew that it was true. If Zen or Karasu Tengu saw him right now he would be in for a good long scolding shortly after receiving series of harsh bashes to the head.

Kubinashi would never forgive himself, ever, he would blame himself and Rikuo would never hear the end of it when he joined them in the afterlife. Kuro and Ao would fuss over him and definitely be very upset. His grandfather would likely be disappointed, and he could just see Tsurara running around crying icy tears.

Rikuo knew that those things were true and that he would never be forgiven by his family and subordinates if he ever did something like committing suicide, but he couldn't bring himself to care as much as he probably should. He just wanted to be with his family again, with the Nura clan, even with Gyūki and that old bastard Hitotsume. What's so wrong about that?

He had grown up and lived his entire life with those yokai; he didn't know what to do without them, didn't have a reason to do anything without them. Sure he had Toono, he considers those yokai to be his second family and he is sure that they think of him in a similar manner, even if they would never admit to it, but what if the same things that happened here happen to them in the future?

It would eventually, since Tamazuki intends on taking over the whole of Japan. Even if Rikuo trained till he dropped and is there to protect and defend Toono, would it be enough?

Rikuo is only one Yokai and there is no doubt that at least one if not all of his friends would fall to the _Shikoku Hachijūhakki Yakō (88 demons of Shikoku) _if even the Nura Gumi fell to them.

The easiest thing would be to attack and destroy Tamazuki and his_ Hyakki_… but can he do such a thing? Without his night parade, can he hope to ever even touch Tamazuki? It's definitely safe to say that the dual haired teen was not confident that he could defeat Tamazuki as he is now, or even ever.

The thought that the Nura Gumi could be utterly destroyed never even occurred to him, it wasn't arrogance or anything like that that made him think so, it was the simple fact that he had never come across a foe that he couldn't beat. It was because of this that Rikuo had forgotten one of the most important rules for fighters, or really life in general: no matter how strong, how good you get, there will always be someone out there that is stronger, better.

He grew up idolizing the power of the yokai surrounding him, and for them to be defeated so… easily… it was earth shattering to say the least.

The yokai remained lost in thought for a moment before finally shifting his attention to his inner world where he found his human-self siting up against the tree, his hair shadowing his eyes with blood running down his chin from where he was biting his lower lip too hard.

Human Rikuo stayed as such for a moment before raising his head and revealing his wide mocha eyes glistening with shed and unshed tears. Then he slowly shook his head, a sad look of determination in his eyes.

'_W-we may not have the s-strength to p-protect or the w-wi-will to save any l-longer…. But our f-family would not want us to p-put to waste the l-life they fought so h-hard to protect and g-give us…. It would be u-ungrateful and dishonoring to their e-efforts.' _His human half spoke quietly and shakily, still sniffing and chocking on his words as he held back tears.

Night Rikuo could not help but admire his day half's maturity and inner strength, something he knows he does not have to the extent that his counterpart does. It seems that while most of the physical strength, power, and charisma went to the demon part of them, the mental, emotional, and spiritual strengths went straight to the human part.

The crimson eyed teen allowed a small wry smile to grace his features as he slowly stood and looked at the form of his friend. She was shaking near uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face even as she tried furiously to wipe them away and put up a strong front for him.

Rikuo winced in regret for asking her what he did; it likely put her through a lot of emotional turmoil as her sense of duty as an onmyoji fought with her loyalty as a friend. And regardless of the species difference, the blood and bodies she saw coming in here were no joke, and he could tell she was shaken up by it.

So, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his skull, he reached forward and grabbed her wrists before pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her tightly in what he hoped to be a comforting gesture, he has never been very good with crying girls after all, even in his human form.

Luckily it seems to have been the right thing to do because she immediately gripped onto the front of his Yukata tightly and proceeded to sob into his chest occasionally screaming things like "Stupid Yokai!" and "Stupid Nura-Kun!". He let her go on like that for a few minutes, lightly stroking her back to calm her down, until her heavy crying receded to short sniffles and minimal trembling.

Once she had calmed down a bit Rikuo spoke in a quite somber tone "Sorry Yura. I shouldn't have asked you to do such a thing." He punctuated each syllable with his hand rubbing a small circle between her shoulder blades in the hopes of keeping her calm and stop her from getting angry or start crying again.

She shook her head jerkily before pounding her fist into his shoulder, not really causing him any pain because of the small amount of force put into it.

"Y-you should be! Asking f-for stupid t-things! D-don't ever try s-something l-like that ever again if y-you're really s-sorry!" she cried into his chest, hitting his shoulder with every other word.

Rikuo winced again feeling pretty bad for causing her to be like this before tightening his grip on her and burying his head into her hair. "Ah, you don't have to worry Yura; I won't do anything like that again." _Probably_

Finally after another minute Yura finally realized their position -his arms wrapped tightly around her with his head pressed to the side of her's- and stiffened before blushing, waving her arms around as much as she could, and stuttering her protests loudly "E-eh?! N-Nura-Kun!"

A dry humorless laugh that didn't really sound like a laugh at all escaped Rikuo, as he tightened his grip on her further and spoke softly next to her ear "Sorry again, but could you let me stay like this for a minute?" his voice cracked, and Yura's eyes widened before softening as she felt a wet spot growing on her shoulder.

A bit unsure, but wanting to do anything she could to help her broken friend, the raven haired female slowly twined her arms around Rikuo's back and was surprised to find him shaking slightly.

Night Rikuo was honestly never intending to appear this weak before anyone but his day half, but at the moment he had very little control over his emotions. And by hugging Yura, he had unintentionally reminded himself of when his mother used to hug him when he was younger, thereby setting off a chain reaction of thoughts that struck straight into his heart and made tears begin falling despite his commands for them to be stop.

However the main reason he was seeking such comfort from his friend was because his human half needed it, craved it, felt as though he would fall apart without it. And so he gradually shifted back into human form, knowing that Yura's comfort would do his human half more good than it would do him, and retreated to the deepest corner of their mindscape to mourn and express his sorrows in peace.

**~0o0~**

Well I think that will be all for now. I've at least gotten the ball rolling.

So tell me what you think in review or PM… and the next chapter will definitely shift to human Rikuo's point of view.

Also don't worry about reviewing to get me to upload faster, I will upload eventually, but I have to do a crap ton of editing to get it to my satisfaction.


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